Dino's woe
by nuvole
Summary: When Reborn brings a not-yet-boss Dino to meet the Varia, what happens when the mysterious Cloud intrigues him? How will Dino cope with batshit crazy Varia, a trigger-happy tutor, and a pervy Cloud guardian that he may just have a crush on? Warning: SLASH Dino/Harry, this story is rated T but I may just up the rating later on. Post-Hogwarts, Pre-Daily life arc, no Gola Mosca
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Any content/characters you may recognize DO NOT belong to me. This is a Fanfiction, done purely out of entertainment, and as such I do not make any profit whatsoever out of this. Harry Potter belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling, and Katekyo Hitman Reborn is in the rightful ownership of the equally wonderful Akira Amano.**

 **Warnings: This story contains SLASH, meaning boyxboy action, if this bothers you please don't read this, or bitch to me about it.**

 **Author's note: I will be posting a warning pertaining to every chapter, though this story probably won't have much in the psychological/gory/foul language category. Though I might just post some smut in the upcoming chapters. I will mark it, though, so you may skip it if it bothers you. This story won't be very long, 2-5 chapters at the most. This is it for now, so enjoy!**

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When Dino saw him for the first time, he was embarrassed to admit he went a tad bit doe eyed. He caught himself soon though, snapping out of it and trying to pretend nothing happened. He hoped no one noticed his little staring act.

But of course such luck is nonexistent while in the presence of highly trained, highly aware Mafioso.

Even more so when one of those Mafioso happened to be the great hitman Reborn.

Said pain-in-the-ass bopped him upside the head hard enough to make him stumble a bit, which wasn't strange at all for two reasons.

One, this was Reborn who was a sadist at heart and enjoyed torturing him at every opportunity he got. Sometimes Dino wondered if he would even make it to the mantle of the tenth Cavallone boss before Reborn killed him.

Not very likely since his tutor's middle name might as well be violence.

Two, he was clumsy Dino, born with two left feet, with no balance to speak of and poor eyesight to boot.

Back to the present, Reborn's little act drew the unwelcome and unwanted attention of the other scary people in the room.

The young (too young, whispered something in his mind) blonde with a fringe covering his eyes kept on grinning. But no matter how young he was or seemed to be, he shouldn't be underestimated. His wide grin that was all teeth put Dino on edge.

The one with an awful haircut looked lecherous, or at least even more lecherous than he did before.

Scar- face looked bored and he couldn't even read the last two.

The baby, because he (she, it?) was wearing a hood, and the burly guy with ridiculous facial hair because he was fussing over Scar-face like an overgrown mother hen. He would have laughed, had the other man not looked more murderous by the second.

Squalo was, perhaps, his only comfort, although even he was hiding a smirk.

And, of course, he was smirking, looking directly at him with half lidded eyes. The green of his iris almost covered with the blown pupil.

Dino felt hot all of a sudden, his face warming up to an alarming shade of red. He could feel his neck heating up, which made him want to tug at his collar.

He licked his suddenly- dry lips nervously as he tried to look somewhere else.

No such luck, as anywhere he looked he would meet the eyes of the other occupants which only served to make him even more flustered than he already was.

Reborn took that as his cue to hit him again, this time opting for a discreet kick in the shins.

Dino swallowed back a choked yelp and instead turned to his beloved tutor.

He gulped and straightened his back as he saw a tick starting to form near his eyes. That was a habit Reborn adopted when he was annoyed.

Of course, Reborn was always annoyed, but when he started to show it...

Well, let's just say that it never ended well for his lovely little pupil.

So, the Cavallone heir swallowed back his nervousness and raised his eyes to meet the ones of his hosts, despite the slight fear he felt.

He stared into the viridian eyes of the Varia Cloud officer and, because of that, missed the glint that entered Reborn's dark eyes.

So his student had a crush, huh?

\- CUT -

When the meeting was over, Dino didn't know whether to kiss the ground or to kick Reborn. (Not that he could, mind you. Kick Reborn that is)

However, since neither of those options sounded very appealing, he settled on throwing himself on the sinfully soft bed generously provided by his hosts.

The Vongola certainly knew comfort, he'd give them that.

Dino sprawled himself across the queen sized bed and threw a hand across his face.

Finally alone, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He relaxed and tried to answer the sweet call of Morpheus.

But he couldn't fall asleep.

Green, green eyes and a uniform fitted around a lean body invaded his mind.

He squirmed on the lush violet comforter, threw his blanket off and then back on again and rearranged his pillows but for the life of him couldn't get comfortable.

For whenever Dino closed his eyes shut, all he could see was that smirk.

Eventually he gave up and accepted the fact that he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. The young almost-Mafioso lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what to do to pass the time. He threw off the blankets, stood up and immediately shivered when the chilly night air hit his bare chest.

He put on a pair of slippers and a night coat which preserved his modesty some and stepped outside into the hallway of the large manor which served as his temporary residence.

Dino ambled aimlessly for a while until he reached a kitchen, which seemed to be just as extravagantly decorated as the rest of the house. Indeed, the spacious kitchen had gleaming marble countertops, sparkling taps and a large island that was most likely the wet dream of every housewife.

He started on making himself a large mug of hot chocolate. He went through the process almost automatically, since his mind was far off in a land filled with handsome black haire-

Wait

Handsome?

Dino paused. Did he really think that the Cloud officer, a man, was handsome?

He certainly saw his share of handsome men in his lifetime, so how does that make him any different?

But then again, he never wanted to do unspeakable things to them either.

When he finished making his beverage, he pulled up a chair and sank down in it, cradling the hot drink in his hand and contemplated.

Was he gay?

Well that isn't something he ever gave thought to. He certainly looked at girls before and thought they were pretty, so why would boys have to be any different?

It was because of this line of thought that held him occupied, that he never saw or heard light footsteps approach.

Until the newcomer spoke, that is.

"Your drink is getting cold."

Dino startled and stumbled, standing up quickly and spilling his drink all over the floor and his fingers, managing to get some on his chest as well. He cursed and reached for a clean rag to wipe the gooey chocolate off his fingers and torso, when his hand was intercepted by a larger, warmer one, its fingers wrapping around his forearm.

Dino gave a little yelp and turned wide brown eyes to the other person-

-And came face-to-face to the thrice damned man who, apparently, took up residence at the forefront of his mind.

His lips parted slightly, and the breath he didn't realize he was holding came out in one big 'whoosh'.

His eyes were even greener up close.

The aforementioned eyes narrowed slightly in amusement, before it's owner's head dipped toward Dino's ear, where he whispered;

"What's got you so flustered, koi?"

Dino's mouth promptly closed shut and he blinked as he realized the suggestive position they were in.

With him being trapped between the Varia officer and the island, it would certainly look lewd to any wandering passersby. Apparently his companion noticed this as well, as he moved even closer to him, pressing their chests together and ghosting his breath over his exposed collarbone.

Dino shivered and pulled closer, resting his head on the man's shoulder.

Until...

.

.

"Perdente Dino what are you doing?"

Dino's head snapped up, his hand loosening from his mug, which then promptly tumbled to the ground and shattered,

Dino cursed- this scene was looking all too familiar. Only this time there was no-one to woo him off his feet. He paused for a moment. Did he just daydream? Or was it just dream since it technically wasn't a day?

He mused on this for a moment. That is, until Reborn decided to make his presence known once again.

The to-be-Cavallone shrieked (He didn't shriek, he was just surprised,) and clutched the back of his head, where he could already feel a bump starting to form.

"Don't ignore me, stronzo."

Dino sighed and stood up still rubbing his head-

-only to forget about the spilt drink on which he promptly slipped on and face planted directly on to the cold marble floor.

He raised his head up to look at Reborn, who was currently calmly sitting on one of the counters, examining his fingernails. For a baby he sure could pack a mean right hook. Dino grimaced and stood up, almost falling down again but was saved from the embarrassment by grabbing the edge of the island.

"Useless " Reborn grumbled with a tiny, almost non-existent frown.

"R-reborn "Dino didn't quite manage to catch his stutter "Why- why are you here?"

At this, Reborn looked away and smirked slightly; "You were making enough noise to wake up the entire manor."

At this, the young Cavallone frowned "I was being as quiet as I could be…"

And, for his troubles he received a poke in the nose. Of course, because it was Reborn who did the poking', his nose would be sore for quite some time.

"Did you forget where we are, pipsqueak? Did you forget who else is here, except us?"

Dino froze

Was he really that loud?

Just as he was starting to space out again, Reborn gave him another bop in the head.

"Go to sleep, perdente " And with that Reborn disappeared to God knows where once again.

The Not-really-Mafioso stared off towards where Reborn went and smiled. No matter how much the baby tried to act it off, he really did care for those close to him

\- CUT -

In the end, Dino did manage to get a few hours in. He woke up feeling slightly dizzy and disoriented, though. This wasn't his room..

.

.

Oh

Slowly it started coming back to him

He was in Varia manor, along with his tutor; the Sun Arcobaleno Reborn.

Wait.. Reborn..

Dino groaned as everything came rushing back like a flood.

Chocolate, green eyes, warmth, pain, Reborn...

He had a crush.

He had a crush, he liked someone.

And not just any someone, no. It had to be one of the crazy bastards in Vongola's independent assassination squad, the Varia. And it had to be the mysterious Cloud, as well.

'Well, it could be worse ' The blonde mused, 'At least it wasn't the scary boss, or the flamboyant green haired guy.

Or even worse, the baby.

Dino shuddered, he really didn't want to be labeled as a pedophile.

Eventually he got dressed and entered the bathroom to do his daily hygiene routine.

As he was brushing his teeth (because morning breath was one of the worst damn scents he ever had the misfortune of smelling, also he didn't need cavities) there was a knock on his large walnut double-doors. He quickly finished up and hurried towards the door, almost slipping on the polished floor and breaking his nose.

It was a slightly ruffled Dino that opened the door, and was greeted by the sight of an impatient Reborn, looking annoyed and about to shoot something. Namely his inept disciple.

Dino gulped as his mentor swiveled around on his stubby little legs and jumped up on his shoulder, tugging at his hair rather harshly in the process. Talk about unnecessary.

Reborn simply pointed down a hallway, and the young Cavallone obeyed immediately, knowing that an annoyed Reborn is a trigger-happy Reborn. And a trigger-happy Reborn meant a bruised, bloody and sore Dino.

The young man marched towards the dining room, baby in tow and a set expression on his face. He knew what was coming. Now that he has come to term with both his sexuality and his feelings toward the Cloud guardian of the Varia, he dreaded seeing the man in question.

When he reached the set of oak doors he paused for a moment, long enough to warrant a look from Reborn. He inhaled slightly and pushed open the doors, surprisingly not causing anyone to turn their head.

'I'm in a house filled with killers, of course they would have heard me coming!'

He set his eyes on the long dining table filled to the brim with breakfast foods, no tablecloth covering it. At the head of the table the scarred man, Xanxus, who was leader of the Varia, as well as Noveno's son was lounging like he owned the place. Which is probably, y'know, because he did.

He was flanked by the Varia captain, Squalo, on the right. The Rain guardian was sitting with a scowl etched on his face and a multitude of broken pottery behind him.

On his left, the hedgehog-headed Levi was, once again, fussing and fluttering about him, taking away dishes from his boss. That is, of course, until said boss decided he had enough of this and promptly pulled out his pistols and shot the man.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, it missed Levi by a hair's breadth.

Instead it almost hit the floating Esper, Mammon, who appeared out of nowhere behind his (Dino just assumed it was a he, based on what? He had no idea ) boss's wingback chair.

Dino averted his eyes from the, somewhat chaotic, scene and looked at the other people in the room.

The blonde haired pre-teen, Belphegor, was playing with the somewhat-blunt kitchen knives with a slasher grin on his face. Even though he, Dino, was some six or so years older than him, the kid still gave him the creeps

The Cavallone shuddered and looked south; to where the Sun guardian was sitting.

Lussuria, what an odd name for someone.

He's not the only one with one, of course. Being literally named 'Lust' wasn't that odd when you were working with people who were named after a demon, a Hebrew sea monster, a shark and another demon, respectively.

Said flamboyant man was preening himself in one of the provided spoons.

What an odd bunch.

Dino tore his eyes away and looked to the creepy knife kid. Seriously, someone take those away before somebody loses an eye.

He looked away-

-straight into the eyes of the Cloud.

\- CUT -

Not much is known about the mysterious seventh Varia member, only that he showed up one day, out of nowhere and asked to join the Vongola's independent assassination squad.

Now since barely even a month before him a certain Blonde haired demon child practically did the same thing, no one looked at him twice. He had a simple first mission, where he, and a few other lower rank officers, simply had to sneak into a warehouse- and blow it up.

However, that was also his first mission gone wrong.

The famiglia that owned the warehouse and was suspected of drug trafficking was notified of their arrival beforehand thanks to a mole in Vongola's operation base. Therefore, when the Varia members arrived at the isolated warehouse in southern Italy, they were greeted with more than four dozen fully armed mafia members.

After a half an hour or so, one of the higher ranking members received word of what was going on and, as he was preparing to dispatch a small team to help his underlings, he heard a muffled bang followed by a muted silence.

He rushed out to see what was going on, only to stop short at the sight that greeted him.

Two of his members- lower rank, judging by their uniforms- were passed out and being supported by another lower rank who was completely covered in blood and guts, with brain matter hanging from his scalp.

Now, apart from the fact that these are lower ranked members, this sort of scene wouldn't cause him to be surprised- they are an assassination squad, after all.

However, these are the rookies that got themselves ambushed in that warehouse, the ones who he was about to send help to.

He was interrupted from his tirade by the bloody guy dumping his comrades unceremoniously on the cold marble floor, and trudging up the stairs for God only knows what reason.

He stood there, dumbfounded that a recruit can single-handedly beat more than fifty Mafioso and, according to his passed out mates, as well as all the telltale blood and viscera hanging from his person, he did it by himself.

Now that's Varia Quality.

He turned around on his heel and went upstairs towards his temperate boss's chambers. Even though he was scared of him, he dreaded to think what would happen if he didn't report something like this to his superiors.

He knocked twice, braced himself and opened the sturdy double doors that led to the Boss's chambers-

-and promptly ducked to avoid a flying tequila bottle aiming for his head that impacted the wall behind him and broke with a loud crash.

"I didn't give you permission to come in, trash."

The lower-ranked officer shivered and fought not to cower in front of his boss's murderous gaze, the reason why he was so feared even among the Varia.

"I apologize sir. P-permission to speak?" The Rookie winced at his stutter and fought to keep his face in the blank mask every officer is required to learn.

Xanxus snorted and replied "Permission granted, trash. What the hell do you want?"

Rookie took a deep breath and told him what just occurred, in as few words as possible. After his story, he braced himself for his boss's rage about one thing or another but all he heard was:

"Bring him here, trash."

The Rookie gulped and nodded, swiveling around and trying to get the hell away from his trigger-happy boss.

After that it was just a bloody mess of the Boss trying to kill the new recruit, the said recruit being a mischievous and, apparently, suicidal bloke provoking and taunting anyone who came close.

Of course, this got him mixed reactions.

Squalo chased him around the entire headquarters, screaming some rather creative death threats and profanities.

The Boss started shooting him and anything close to him with his pistols at full blast, resulting in an entire floor and the walls below and above it needing to be replaced, also roaring about 'the trash' needing to be put in his place in a very painful way.

Bel took a liking to him simply because he was able to provoke such reactions. Also because he somehow managed to dye Squalo's hair lilac.

Mammon simply blinked and ran (floated?) away from all the chaos, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire of his Boss's rage, Fantasma in tow.

Levi ambled around, trying to electrocute him.

And Lussuria cooed at him, petting his 'unnaturally baby soft hair! Which products do you use?'

It was a unanimous vote to promote him to Varia officer.

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 **This was actually meant to be a oneshot, but I got a little ahead of myself and started writing things I didn't even plan on doing. I will try to update as soon as I can, though that may just be in a month or two for all I know. If you have any ideas for what you want to see in the upcoming chapters, please share them with me, be it through a review, or a PM, cuz' I sure as hell have no idea what to do next.**

 **Also, I would appreciate it if you would mention any spelling or grammar mistakes you may have come across as I do not yet have a beta. (Update: Big thanks to DanceInLightening!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognise. KHR is owned by Akira Amano, and Harry Potter by JK Rowling**

 **Warnings: See chapter 1. This chapter doesn't contain anything worth mentioning**

 **A/N: I had a bit of a trouble with this one, seeing as I accidentally deleted half of it without saving. So.. yeah. Thanks to everyone who followed and favorited and virtual hugs to those who reviewed; I can't tell you how happy I was when I saw those.**

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Dino couldn't sleep.

Again.

This time, however, it wasn't because he was questioning his sexuality.

This time, it hit him that he was alone (well, he wasn't alone, Reborn was here too but that doesn't make it any better) in a house with people he didn't know, the same people could kill him in a heartbeat if they so wanted to. In fact, why haven't they already? He was without his men, his family, and Reborn was hardly always there.

Okay, he paused here. He was definitely being melodramatic; it was hardly his fault though.

Once again, he threw the fluffy sheets off of him, getting tangled in them at the same time. After a little while spent rolling around, looking more like a caterpillar than anything, he managed to get the damnable blankets off.

He huffed and put a hooded jacket and sweatpants on, nursing his bruised head from the impact it received. After tightening the drawstrings he stepped off of the fluffy carpet onto the cold laminate and regretted it immediately, for the wood was freakin' cold.

Dino yelped and put on a pair of slippers (the same ones as yesterday, mind you; déjà vu, anyone?) on his bare feet and took the few steps needed to reach the door.

He hesitated when he reached the doorknob. What is he going to do when he stepped out? He didn't feel like drinking anything so the kitchen was not an option; he didn't have to go to the bathroom, either.

The blonde teen stayed like this for a short while, fingers rested on the doorknob, eyes glazed in thought. In the end he simply shrugged and decided he would go exploring. Childish it may be, it was the only thing he could think of.

Dino opened and closed the door as silently as he could, whispering a little 'Thank you' when the well-oiled doors closed soundlessly.

He pondered where to go; left, or right? He always took the left, since that was the corridor that led to the center of the manor, namely the parlor, dining room, kitchen and so on.

This time, he chose to be adventurous and turned right, all the while wondering what may be here.

The logical answer would be the other guest rooms. At this thought he balked; he did not want Reborn to catch him wandering around. Even though he was almost of age, capable to fight if need be and in one of the most protected buildings in the world, he would probably get a tongue lashing and an ass whoopin' if the toddler caught sight of him.

He was extra quiet when passing the other doors.

The young Cavallone ambled like this for a while, never stopping in other rooms in fear someone might be in them.

Despite the intimidating structure and decor of the building, he was not fazed in the slightest. Being raised in such a manor himself he has quite the love for large, ornate rooms.

Although, the Cavallone base was much more, ah, airy than the dark and gloomy halls of Varia manor. With its large gardens filled with flowers, fountains and fruit trees, and a few beehives scattered around, the scenic three story house he grew up in was stunning.

With him being in thought, he almost missed the swish of cloth turning the corner a few feet away.

Dino paused, and faltered for a while, floundering on whether to turn tail, run and hope the person didn't notice him, or follow them and hope nothing too bad happened to him.

He was just about to turn around when another though occurred:

What if this was an intruder?

What if they were going to do something to the others?

He froze. If that was true, shouldn't he go stop them? But he wasn't strong! Sure Reborn trained him and beat his ass on a daily basis, but he was still weak compared to these strong people around him! He isn't even fit to be the next Cavallone don!

Dino shook his head of these self-deprecating thoughts, this wasn't the time to for self-rebuttal, he should be stopping this person!

With that thought in mind, he started running in the direction of the cloth. He ran past paintings and precious vases, ornaments and chandeliers until he reached a fork.

A moment's thought had him choosing the middle randomly.

He ran and ran until he was out of breath. The disheveled young man leaned on the walls, huffing and puffing, face red from exertion. Even after Reborn's stamina training, he was never a runner.

He worried his lips, thinking he chose the wrong corridor.

He was just about to turn around and go back when he heard sounds a little ways back.

After gaining most of his breath, he cautiously tip-toed towards the oriental-looking sliding doors. There, he leaned in and tried to peek through the keyhole, only to find out there wasn't one.

There were interesting sounds coming from in there. Metal on metal, muffled thumps and curses and was it just him, or did the ground shake every once in a while?

Dino glanced toward one of the windows and, seeing that the sun wasn't even up, gathered his courage and slid open the doors a little bit.

It was just his luck that nothing was there on the only part of the room he could see.

He braced himself and slid the doors open a little bit more, being as quiet as he could be.

What he saw when he poked his head through the door had saliva drooping down his chin.

There stood the black haired man, shirtless and sweaty, a set expression on his face and swinging around two gleaming metal fans. The fans were huge, almost the size of his torso with sharp looking spikes on the ends. Dino shivered at the thought of being impaled by one of them.

The young man- he even forgot his name; who wouldn't when faced with what he was seeing now?- was twisting and turning in midair, wearing nothing but a pair of very loose pants tied at the bottom with strips of cloth and bandages tied around his wrists, apparently to protect his palms from the sharp metal.

He was slashing at a- was that a puppet?!

And was it moving?

What the hell?!

Dino's jaw went even more slack as the puppet evaded the sharp fans- tessen?- aimed at vital spots and even directed a few hits of it's own.

None of them connected though.

The Cloud guardian looked almost bored, like he was playing around as he lazily ducked underneath a sword aiming to lob his head off. He looked more like he was doing gymnastics rather than fighting; jumping and bending, performing handsprings and somersaults in midair.

Dino's eyes widened when he finally decided to end the rather one sided fight by ducking and slashing the dummy's feet clean off. As he watched the wooden doll fall to the ground, he aimed an uppercut toward its head, watching it detach from the torso and soar off like a bullet, impacting the wall a little off to the right of where Dino's head was peeking through the door.

The wall cracked from the impact, a deep crater forming on the concrete. Dino could almost see into the other room. Or he would if, y'know, it wasn't so damn dark.

Apparently, when he obliterated the head, the whatever-it-was that was making the puppet move deactivated, making the legless torso fall limply to the floor.

When the dumbfounded Cavallone tore his eyes away from the destructive blow and looked towards where the Cloud was, he found him-

-not there.

Dino stood there, blinking, for a few moments before shrugging. He probably left the room when he wasn't looking.

But there weren't any other doors except this one.

He froze suddenly when he felt hot breath graze his earlobe and a pair of fingers skim through his locks and swiveled around, almost banging his head on the doors.

When he turned, nothing was there.

Dino stood there, eyes darting around, searching for something off.

Nothing, not even a shadow out of place.

He let out a breath and turned back towards the apparent training room. He must have imagined that or something. Maybe an opened window in the hall? But an opened window doesn't explain how the man left the room when he was blocking the only exit.

Dino startled and whirled around when he heard a chuckle behing him.

The Cloud was leaning on a wall, chest still gloriously bare and glistening, ankles and arms crossed and a smirk on his angular face.

Dino's ears reddened and he backed up a slight bit, accidentally getting his feet caught on the base of the door and losing his balance.

The air left his lungs in a whoosh as he felt his bottom connect with the hardwood flooring with a 'thump'. Dino sat up, dazed from the impact, head spinning.

He was trying to chase the white spots from the edges of his eyes away when a hand suddenly appeared in front of his face. He stared at the long fingers and trimmed nails, managing to spot a few scratches and calluses on the palm through his blurry vision.

He blinked and looked up the arm- was that a tattoo?- to the elbow, shoulder and, finally, the face.

He squinted when he spotted a suspicious looking twinkle enter the viridian eyes, thinking he imagined it with his eyes still being a bit fuzzy at the corners.

Dino blinked again when the man glanced at his face, and then his still outstretched arm and quickly clasped it.

He was surprised at the ease the man pulled him up with.

Once he was up, he tried dusting himself off, but found his hands still held in a light grip by the slightly taller man. His lips parted slightly as the man bent down and whispered;

"What are you doing out so late, Dino-koi?"

Dino flushed once again, this time to the tips of his ears as he tried to stutter out a response.

The other man just smiled slightly and straightened up, placing the palm of his hand on the small of the blonde haired boy's back. Dino blinked in confusion, face still red.

He was even more confused when the taller man started gently nudging his back, apparently wanting to go forward. Was he busted? Was he going to be in trouble? Oh, God, what if he was taking him to see Reborn!

Dino's eyes widened as he imagined his tutor's scarily controlled displeasure and ire aimed at him during one of the many exerting training sessions said tutor is making him go through.

Just as he was about to pull away from the man, he noticed the direction they were going.

It was the direction where the main part of the manor was, opposite the rooms. But, why were they going there?

Time was spent pondering this fact. So much in fact, that when the arm supporting his back suddenly vanished he gave a little jolt in surprise. Dino looked up and around only to find the older man gone.

He was bewildered until he heard another one of those chuckles he was strangely becoming accustomed to. He looked towards an open door to find the Cloud sitting down in a barstool, leaning on the island behind him.

This was the kitchen.

Why did he bring them in the kitchen?

Dino blinked once more, shrugged and entered the room, leaving the door open behind him.

„So, erm, why- why are we here?" Dino coughed and cleared his throat, trying- and failing- to get rid of another blush.

The other man gave a little smile and said: „You couldn't sleep, right? I thought you would appreciate something warm inside you."

Dino reddened at the words, face and neck heating up at the not-really-innuendo. He cleared his throat once again, trying in vain to get his mind out of the gutter and was prepared to respond when he paused.

„How did you know that? Um, that I couldn't sleep, I mean." He was slightly confused at that. Did he guess? If so, it was a very lucky guess.

The Cloud- he was really going to have to ask what his name was, he couldn't just keep calling him 'The Cloud', or 'The Man' for the rest of his life. Or for the rest of his stay here, at least- raised an eyebrow at the question.

„You were walking around at-" here he glanced at the kitchen clock „-four in the morning. I doubted you were that big of a morning person. And, besides, you have bags under your eyes so I'm assuming you haven't slept well for the past few days?"

„Oh.. You're right, I haven't. Thanks for your concern..." Dino trailed off awkwardly, frantically trying to remember his name. He cursed his distraction during introductions. He was so preoccupied with ogling the man's impressive form that he didn't even notice when most of them were introduced.

"Ryuu."

He blinked „ What?"

"My name. It's Ryuu." The other man- Ryuu?- added.

It sort of fit him. The name sounded oriental; definitely not Chinese, but maybe Japanese or korean? He did look as though he had some eastern blood in him, judging by the slanted eyes and dark hair.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

„Hey, I saw you earlier, with those, um, fans. Where did you put them?" He hoped he didn't sound too nosy.

The newly named Ryuu blinked and smiled a slow smile. „Ah-ah, a magician never reveals his secrets. I didn't ask you where you kept your whip, didn't I?" His smile widened when Dino froze at the last sentence.

„How did you know?" Dino was very confused right now. He never once took his bullwhip out, so how did the man know about it?

Ryuu's smile widened even more, but he kept quiet. The smile made his already attractive face even more so. A twinkle entered his green eyes and his lips stretched to show his pearly white teeth. Dino noticed his canines were rather long.

He was wondering on whether to sit down or keep standing up, and where to sit if it was the former. He floundered for a bit and just as he was about to stay standing, the decision was made for him when Ryuu pulled a stool up.

He did hesitate, but eventually took the seat next to the taller man's.

He squirmed around a bit, finding it very easy to get comfortable in the soft leather padding of the stool.

Dino glanced at Ryuu's face, seeing the ever present and strangely fitting smile still stretched, albeit not as wide as it was before. Despite the friendly smile, his eyes were sharp, though not cold.

He looked up and around the kitchen. He didn't get the chance to inspect it yesterday, when he was still rather drowsy and more focused on Reborn than anything else. The taps were still as sparkly as ever, and the countertops were gleaming as well. He examined the dark wooden cabinets, the gleaming metal pots and pans hanging from a bar propped up over the island he was leaning on and the arch leading toward the even more lavish dining room.

Dino wriggled some more, turning around and causing the collar of his large shirt to shift and fall down, revealing his collarbone.

Ryuu looked at the Cavallone heir and his eyes zeroed in on a particular spot.

An interesting looking tattoo; a black skull surrounded by blue flames.

He raised his fingers up and towards the blonde boy's collar, hand going over his shoulder, so that said boy didn't notice the action. His fingers stopped a bare inch above the art, hovering.

Ryuu traced the tattoo gently, running his fingers along the curvature of the bone, over the ink and stopping at the indent between the two clavicles, where he hooked his fingers.

Dino startled a bit, turning around and looking at the oriental man with wide eyes, jerking slightly at the ticklish sensation. He didn't pull away, though.

Ryuu didn't pull his hand away, rather he continued; back up the collarbone and tattoo, along the nape of his neck and up his hair. He stopped there and gripped his locks lightly, firm fingers massaging his scalp.

Dino's face burned red, he was embarrassed to admit he enjoyed the black haired man's administrations. In fact that was one of his sp-

-oh.

Ooh.

Right there.

Dino almost moaned at the sensation of fingers digging into his skull, almost. Reborn did, in fact, instill a semblance of self control in him.

He was so wrapped up in the feeling that he didn't even stop to notice how weird this would look to a passerby.

He also didn't notice the miniscule shift in shadows near the door, indicating a nosy little peep. The shadow nearly vibrated, then suddenly disappeared. Ryuu did notice this, however, and he adopted a small smirk; already knowing who it is.

* * *

 **There ya' have it! If you have any suggestions or ideas for what may come next feel free to inform me! Constructive criticism will be appreciated, along with any mistakes you may have come across.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

It was an ever so slightly ruffled Dino who stumbled his way out of the kitchen, cheeks red and hair a mess from the salacious little scenario that played out back there. He got only a few steps in the hall before realising his slippers were missing; They must have fallen off somewhere in the kitchen, perhaps he kicked them off by accident.

Dino's toes curled and he felt the fine hairs on his arms stand ramrod straight. He looked around for a piece of rug to stand on, but found nothing.

Briefly he thought about returning to the kitchen to find the blasted fuzzy menaces that stuck him in this tricky predicament.

That is, until he remembered the sole reason why he blundered out of there with all the grace of a beached manatee.

Suddenly, walking the length of the mansion didn't sound so bad.

Although, he should probably hurry if he didn't want his kidneys to suffer.

In his hurry, he missed the silent shadowy figure that skulked around the corner.

-CUT-

When Dino finally returned to his room, the bed never looked more inviting. The entire ordeal worn him out, it seems; not so much physically as it did emotionally, especially since he's never really done that type of thing before.

Although, worn out seems like such a negative word, especially since he didn't exactly dislike what the guy did. He could even go as far as admit that he liked it, just a teeny bit.

He'd burn alive on a stake before saying it out loud, though, even if he were alone. Although, he didn't know how pleasant that would be, exactly.

That line of thought brought him to another point; what was the deal back there with the tattoo?

They are pretty common in the mafia, so he shouldn't really be surprised. Hell, the dude even has a few of his own! He recalled a quite tasteful lily flower and something intricate above it that he didn't get to glimpse since he was focusing on the biceps a little too intensely.

He pondered this for a short while, staring at the off-white walls with unfocused eyes, chin slightly agape. Although, how much of the pondering involved the actual tattoo, and how much the abs will remain unknown for the rest of time.

He kept thinking until his eyes started to droop and he fell bonelessly onto the squashy purple bundle of clouds.

'This is bliss' was the only thought that circled his mind, as his body sunk into the sinfully soft mattress.

He laid prone like that, doing nothing for a long, long moment, and was just falling asleep; limbs loosening, chin drooping, chest rising up and down in a rhythmic and steady manner when...

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

Dino's eyes twitched and flew open- the lights were off and the curtains drawn, meaning he didn't have to squint, thank god for small miracles- head managing to turn around towards the source of the blasted sound that was making his ears fall off. The large red numbers 5:30 glared at him, making him screw his eyes up.

Oh, right.

He forgot about the time.

He brought up a hand towards his head and rubbed his temple. As much as he would like to sleep some more- and that was the one thing he wanted above all else, at the moment- Reborn should come barging in in a little while, guns cocked.

He turned towards the damnable clock and looked for an off switch, having to get extra close to it to do so, nearly bursting his eardrums in the process.

Fumbling around with it, he became even more agitated when he couldn't find anything, not even a lid for the batteries.

In the end he ended up muffling it with his pillow and, when he couldn't find a more permanent solution, burning it to ashes with his flames. Of course, he almost burned down the cupboard it was standing on as well.

Hopefully the Varia wouldn't mind a few scorch marks.

-CUT-

Birds started chirping and the first rays of sunlight streamed through the cracks on the heavy violet drapes. The next don to the Cavallone family was sitting on his four poster bed staring at a wall mounted gilded clock, dark bags under his eyes.

A long, ornate metal needle shifted north, causing a shorter one to stop at the roman number VI, thus signifying 6 a.m.

Dino was getting worried at the lack of a knock at his door. For Reborn to be late, an apocalypse must be just around the corner.

And as the fancy needle moved once more to show a minute past six, Dino felt as though the wind stopped blowing and the birds stopped chirping. Even the room seemed darker, as if the sun noticed there was a discrepancy down below and decided to shrink into itself, make itself less noticeable.

The blonde haired young man felt the palms of his hands start to sweat and barely refrained from wiping them on his custom tailored trousers.

He stood up and paced nervously, chewing over both his nails and the reason why his prompt and punctual tutor wasn't showing up.

He was wearing the polished dark oak floors down, when three deep knocks sounded, echoing in his suite, startling poor Dino.

He sighed in relief and quickly glanced at the clock. 6:02.

Hurriedly walking towards the door he paused, hand hovering over the doorknob as a thought came to him.

Reborn knocked quickly and sharply, meaning the knocks weren't as loud- probably to make sure Dino, the lazy bugger, was up- and Reborn was a man of routine, which meant he never changed his patterns. This sudden change of custom made Dino suspicious.

Another three knocks were heard, and Dino jerked, hand shooting out to yank the door open, managing to bang his finger against the doorknob before actually grabbing it.

A set of green eyes connected to a familiar face met him, its owner's hand poised high, fist loosely closed, as if he was about to knock once more.

Dino groaned inwardly, nursing his abused hand- who else?

Ryuu smiled slightly and lowered his hand, eyebrows going up in amusement. Fate apparently really liked to mess with him, as he saw the man almost every corner he turned and, frankly, he did not find it endearing at all. If he listened closely he could almost hear laughter. Or maybe he was just going mad.

"Ohayo, Dino. I hope you slept well?" Definitely Japanese then.

He was never interested in languages during his stay in Mafia school so, apart from English, Italian and a tidbid of French, he never focused on them much. He never saw the need to learn Japanese, since the Land of the Rising Sun was so far away.

Thankfully, he had a slippery grasp on the basics and, as such, didn't make an utter fool of himself.

"Good morning " Inwardly he did a little jig; he didn't stutter this time! 10 points to Dino " er, yeah, it was good " And the points went down the drain. He wondered if this was what the girls at school kept giggling and blushing about, although the whole 'thou must make a fool of yourself before your crush' was never mentioned. In his mind he grimaced; crush was such an ugly word, perhaps admiration might be more fitting.

Yes, admiration works nicely.

Ryuu, thankfully, didn't seem to notice his little faux pas. And even if he did, he didn't react to it; bless his- drop dead gorgeous- soul.

" Why are you here, and not Reborn? " Dino voiced his thoughts, and asked the question that was on his mind.

For Reborn to not show up as he always does- without telling him, mind you - something must have come up.

Furthermore, to place his own wellbeing into the hands of a Varia officer- nice as he may seem to be, Dino still mustn't forget the fact that the man before him was Varia; an unpredictable, highly dangerous individual- the damn baby either must have really been in a rush or this was a test of some sort.

He wouldn't put it past the baby. The same baby who dropped him in a savannah the middle of nowhere- what he would later learn was goddamned Tanzania- with nothing but his meagre skills in handling his whip, and instructed him to climb bloody mount Kilimanjaro. He had to fend off bloody Lions for pete's sake!

And that was one of his tamer 'tests'.

Dino shuddered slightly, a hesitant tenor voice dragged him out of his musings. He looked up and raised a confused eyebrow at the cloud guardian.

He seemed oddly nervous, which was a look that did not suit him at the very least. He cast a few side glances and avoided direct eye contact with Dino, who saw him finger something under the folds of his loose fitting clothes. Dino's mind was suddenly filled with images of a swooshing bladed fan.

''Reborn was summoned by your father last night, it seemed rather urgent. " That can't have been all though, and Dino got a roiling feeling in his stomach; something bad happened.

His eyebrows creased as he looked at Ryuu's pursed mouth and soft eyes.

And suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks.

-CUT-

Despite popular opinion, Dino Cavallone was not a crybaby.

He was a coward at the best of times, which is something that always stood in his way. When his favourite stuffed aligator was nicked by a bully he would duck his head down, rather than confront him. He would never raise his voice at someone, nor would he lash out while being picked on- which happened more often than he would have liked to admit.

But whenever he would get beaten up- as a child, as well as nowadays- he would not shed a tear.

Crying was something a Cavallone never did.

His father never cried, not even when his wife was torn away from him. He didn't cry when the famiglia was driven into the ground, not when half of his men were slaughtered. His father was a man who regarded crying as a weakness.

His mother cried though.

She was a sensible person who taught him, away from his father's stern eyes, not to be afraid of crying. In her eyes it was not a sign of weakness, but a sign of a person that has been strong for too long.

He cried when his mother died.

But the tears weren't coming now.

There was numbness and shock, disbelief that his bear of a father, who was irresponsible at times, was gone. He felt apathetic at best.

Guarded green eyes regarded him, gauging his reaction, but were bewildered when they couldn't find what they were looking for; The typical grief that lined a persons face, crinkled their eyes and forehead and made their eyes damp.

What they were met with instead was-

-nothing.

Because that's exactly what Dino Cavallone felt.

 **-** CUT-

A flight to Sicily was scheduled for noon, and Dino holed himself up in his room. The Varia left him alone, respecting him and the Cavallone famiglia enough not to intrude.

He closed the doors behind him and sat on the bed.

Even though he was surprised, he... expected it.

He knew his father was on his deathbed for a long time now. Which was perhaps one of the reasons he demanded so firmly for Dino to take over his seat as the boss.

Even as a child his father insisted on rigorous training, hiring tutors to follow him around. He was an exuberant and, often times, mischevious kid though, and he caused a lot of trouble for his caretakers. Might be one of the reasons some of the more... rigid tutors didn't particularly like him.

His father's demands often times made him feel confined, as if his life was being decided for him and, while he knew he WAS going to become boss one day, he often wished his father wasn't so imposing about it.

So he did the only thing that seemed right at the time. He ran away.

That was, admittedly, not the smartest decision he made. He thanked the gods no one wanted him dead at the time, since the Cavallone famiglia, grudgingly, was not the most popular nor financially stable out there, meaning they had next to no enemies. He could have ended up a lot worse than Reborn finding him.

Of course that raised the question as to why he ''bumped into'' the baby hitman in the first place.

After all, a dingy, seedy inn is probably not a baby's first choice of lodging.

Said baby had a stare of steel, and Dino started squirming within seconds of being on the recieving end. He knew who it was, of course, the result of being a mischevious and curious child meant he often used to sneak out of his room and listen to his father's meetings with the other family members. The name and face was often whispered around the meeting table, the apparent 'world's strongest hitman' and his new victims were named regularly.

What he excerpted from the conversation, the man owed his father something, which is probably the reason the kid was even here.

Although the fact that he was going to tutor him didn't quite seem pleasant if the beginning look that could turn you to stone was anything to go by. He got the feeling that Reborn would rather be anywhere else right now; not in the nervous kind of way, more in the murderous, homicidal kind of way that told you staying near him was more or less suicide.

He could handle it... right?

-CUT-

Seeing a casket get lowered down into the ground disturbed him, especially when he knew whose body was in there.

The whole family was at the funeral, naturally, as were some of the members of the few famiglias the Cavallone were allied with. The small number of people present made him think of just how poorly the famiglia was run. He knew his father wasn't keen on allying himself with other bosses, prefering instead to run things on his own volition.

Perhaps he thought of that way of ruling as beneficial, but the lack of diplomatic relations bothered Dino, who understood that making allies will go in the family's favour in the long run.

Or perhaps he simply wasn't charismatic enough. His father was a textbook example of a realist and always said things how they were, which probably dampened the spirits of quite a few people, and drove beneficial ones away.

Of course, now he has no choice but to take up the position of the family leader, and because of that he vowed to do whatever he could to help the Cavallone famiglia fluorish. It was time to stop fooling around and start taking his responsibilities seriously. First things first though, the finances need to be fixed; since his father, and the don before him took up the seat, the budget took a pretty harsh beating.

He entertained the idea of taking up permanent residence in the main house, he was definitely going to have to do that one day. The idea of leaving the Varia did twinge something inside him that made him grimace, however. He didn't quite look forward to leaving the over-extravagant manor, with it's just as extravagant residents who, 4 times out of 5, didn't fail to make him snort in amusement. The 1 time they didn't, they made him fear for his dear life.

Hilarity ensued often in the Varia HQ, or, at least, when the squad captains weren't punishing their respective, 'good for nothing' squadrons for 'uselessness' or other such thing, that is.

He really liked staying there since, other than providing a great deal of fun, he had gotten the chance to renew his companionship with Squalo, as well as grown somewhat attached to the cloud guardian.

Perhaps... he could stay, at least for a bit longer.

The only reason he was sent there in the first place was partway diplomatic- his father wished to strenghten his connections to the Vongola; the one family he took great care in establishing an alliance with. Apart from that, Dino suspected he was sent there because his father wanted an ideal training environment for him.

Or maybe he wanted Dino to 'make friends' with people his own age.

It was imaginable, after all Dino never had many friends while in school, except maybe Squalo who tolerated him to a degree, and even protected him from some of the harsher pushes on occasion. Most children he saw on a regular basis were heirs of large, influential families and since he belonged to a less prominent family, that made him easy bait for the bullies.

One way or another, he was glad he was sent there.

A hand on his shoulder made him jolt.

He looked up and saw Romario-his father's closest subordinate- who smiled in a way that made his bushy mustache twitch.

He always liked Romario, even if they didn't interact as much as Dino did with his tutors and minders; perhaps that was even the reason why. Romario gave off the impression of a reliable person, even when his body was rigid and he felt almost imperceptible tremors pass through his hand. If he couldn't see before, he could see now how close of a companionship he had with his father.

He smiled toward him and saw the way Romario's eyes softened ever so slightly.

'' You'll be coming home?''

Dino hesitated for a bit '' If I have to... then yeah.'' Even if he wasn't looking forward to it. The house was bound to be lonely without both his parents there.

Romario nodded and squeezed his shoulder. The unwilligness must have been apparent on his face, because the next sentence stupified him:

'' I can handle things here, for a while. If you want to, you can stay a bit more.'' and with those words, he turned around and left, all the while being followed by Dino's disbelieving eyes.

He can... stay?

The idea filled him with relief. His shoulders sagged and he relaxed slightly. He just wasn't sure if he could come home and carry on as if everything was normal, as if the most important people weren't missing.

He thanked the stars for Romario.


End file.
